Realm: More uses for Authority

[Kaios]

As state funeral requires the whole body to make use of and the other one is just a siege related mechanic the only useful authority drain other than the statues currently is From the Public Coffer (auth to experience).

I was thinking about some possible additions and one that I think might be nice would be timed buffs/bonuses that can be activated through the realm management menu in return for some cost of authority. As an example this cost could either be an immediate authority drain for a bonus that lasts somewhere from a few hours to a few days or the drain could be constant while a buff is active.

This opens the gateway to a number of possibilities that could give the realms a little more variety between each other. Instead of being limited to direct skill and attribute bonuses this could instead allow for bonuses that are more related to some other suggestions that have been given such as production/work speed, stamina drain reduction, etc.

Some obviously silly but possibly fun examples:

• Swim Like A Fish - Hearthlings possess the innate ability to swim, with this boon those living under your realm can stride through the water at a decreased cost of stamina.
  
• Law and Order - Bring civility to these lawless lands, for a limited time performing a criminal action within the realm does double the damage and scents left while the buff is active last longer.
  
• Mother Nature's Blessing - Pay tribute to the Dryads and in return your crop production becomes more favourable. Increases the possible quality gain when planting within your realm.
  
• Traveling Merchant - The Hearthlands are dangerous and the risk of transporting valuable goods is high, lessen that risk for those under your realm by increasing the speed at which rowboats, knarrs and wagons travel.
  
• Glory to the Kingdom - Show your subjects that you value their support and one day they may return the favour. Increase production speed of crafted goods.
  
• Art of War - You weren't online because timezones and your villagers have angered the subjects by raiding everyone. Deny your realm buffs to anyone living or on the realm that is not oathed.

Ok the last one is a bit of a joke but in any case they could all be time limited in some manner and there could be other restrictions in place like only one at a time, cool down between uses, high auth cost. There are many more possibilities than just what I could come up with though.

[Granger]

Law and Order could include denying buffs to outlawed characters.

[Amanda44]

Yes, I'm all for more ways to give bonuses to those under the realm, this idea would be perfect, even if the cost to authority was high at least it would just be for the duration of the buff and enables the realm to offer more choice and variety when authority is doing well.

Law and Order could include denying buffs to outlawed characters.

I like this too and do actually think with all buffs and bonuses it should be applicable in some form as they stand atm, maybe with lesser effects from the bonuses gained from the statues.

[ven]

I think it would be better if the effects were more long lasting to the point that it would encourage migration between kingdoms, instead of a simple on/off toggle. If someone knows that, for at least one month, kingdom X will be giving buffs to crops, they could consider moving there. That would also be a good way to create conflict and interaction between kingdoms, since it wouldn't just be a matter of who can offer the highest stat buffs for the players.

And I know the usual practice is to implement only a few options for every new mechanic (as happened with emotes, weapons, kingdom stat buffs etc), but in this case I think it might be very interesting to have a long list of policies that a kingdom could enact at the cost of authority. In time, this could lead to very different forms of government and also give meaning to realm claims.

[Kaios]

Law and Order could include denying buffs to outlawed characters.

I hadn't thought about that but it's a good idea.

I think it would be better if the effects were more long lasting to the point that it would encourage migration between kingdoms, instead of a simple on/off toggle. If someone knows that, for at least one month, kingdom X will be giving buffs to crops, they could consider moving there. That would also be a good way to create conflict and interaction between kingdoms, since it wouldn't just be a matter of who can offer the highest stat buffs for the players.

Yes I agree with that and it would help to make the choice a bit more important I guess if you were only able to have so many active at one time and provided you couldn't remove the buff without another cost after it has been activated. Although I do think there will be some scenarios where a toggled buff is necessary rather than a prolonged one with a small but constant drain rather than a single large one.

[ven]

Of course, there could be a range of different edicts and policies, both immediate and long-term, to fit the king's vision of his kingdom and its urgent needs too. I think some modifiers should even start at 0 and increase their buffs through time in order to encourage permanence and minimize on/offing exploits.

Having progressed far enough, players will, in time, be able to organize themselves into societies, from simple tribes and villages, progressing through republics, nation states and, ultimately, empires.

It would be grand one of the auth uses was to give more autonomy to vassal villages, such as allowing lawspeakers to toggle a few policies of their own, effecting only their village claims. We've been talking about migration of players, but minor villages can migrate too, and stuff like this would definitely be a very good reason to do so.

I suppose all this boils down to what lots of people have been asking for this past month: let us customize kingdoms and let politics be a part of the game's mechanics.

[DeadlyPencil]

here is a suggestion for 1:

high alert - scents left on your kingdom are easier to see and track, and if your expl x perc is high enough, you can "see" that a player is red handed, they will have sink lines/smoke coming off of them from the type of crime they committed.

[Granger]

here is a suggestion for 1:

high alert - scents left on your kingdom are easier to see and track, and if your expl x perc is high enough, you can "see" that a player is red handed, they will have sink lines/smoke coming off of them from the type of crime they committed.

Then add the ability to freely (without leaving scents or needing rage) attack outlawed characters with Law and Order for a nice synergy effect.

[jordancoles]

I'm against literally everything that alters movement speed

Other than that, ideas for authority buffs are pretty endless

[Kaios]

I'm against literally everything that alters movement speed

Why? I'm not blind to the abusability of such an implementation but as long as the buff is costly, timed and not stackable I think it can be managed in a fair way. State your reasoning peasant!

Some thoughts on siege additions from another thread:

In any case, I feel quite strongly that the solution to this predicament is to relate siege warfare to claims. I'd also like to state that the only reason I am presenting this suggestion in the form of one that helps to prevent total destruction of a base, or at least make it more difficult, is because the majority of players seem to feel this is large concern. So, Forget the "Trial by Fire" name I am just going to go with Siege Tower.

Let's start from the beginning. You are a raider and you are out and about scouting the lands when you come across an unknown brick walled settlement with what appears to be juicy loot inside. Steel is cooking, a large stockpile of metal bars sits ready for the taking and there might even be a decent silk production going. You decide you want their stuff.

So what do you do first? Well, it would now be impossible to damage the walls or any objects, containers, etc. on their personal or village claim without having access yourself. This means you'll be required to create your own attacking claim which is where the Siege Tower comes in to play. The siege tower could require resources similar to what the recently implemented tower requires, except rather than stone it would likely be made of wood. The only purpose of the siege tower is to create a claim for which you have authority over, thus allowing the attacking party to damage walls and objects. The siege tower is a mobile construction, meaning it can be moved in the same way that a ram can be moved, likely at a similar or slower speed, and it would take its area of influence with it.

The purpose behind the Siege Tower is to create a siege machine that is required to be moved so that the claim covers the portion of the wall you are going to break in to and at that point must be moved inside and throughout the village in order to continue your theft/destruction. This does not mean you still wouldn't be able to attack players as that is related to the visitor debuff. Also, if this were to be linked with the Kingdoms mechanics, depending on who constructs the siege tower, its area of influence would become one that is linked to the attacking party's village. Then, moving the siege tower drains the authority of the attacking party's village until it is destroyed or they run out of authority. This means that Defenders could even move unattended siege towers themselves to drain the authority of a village foolish enough to build the tower and leave it unprotected.

Obviously this suggestion has holes and it is incomplete as I haven't even touched on the actual mechanics to break in to the village such as the ram, or catapults or whatever the hell you guys want, but please give this some thought and consideration and if you have an appropriate response I am eager to hear it.

So I posted this before kingdom system had been introduced and now that it's around I think it might be a good time to bring suggestions like that back up and it relates quite nicely as another authority drain.

Although, I think there should be way more defensive siege mechanics added as well even going as far as giving advantages to structures built at higher elevations giving them sort of defense bonus. Loopholes, machicolations, murder holes and boiling tar, guard towers, moats and so on. In addition to these I'd like to see some authority related buffs that give some bonuses/assistance to defenders that they could make use of during a siege situation.